Well regards to the auto cleaning, you don't want it. It takes cameras longer to wake-up when it is on, thus getting that moose shot won't happen. All manufacturers cleaning function works just fine. But, you most definetly want to have the option to turn it ON ONLY when YOU WANT IT TO! Saves batteries too when on a long climb.

Brian
Still using Sony R1 so don't need the cleaning function. Taken over 10,000 pictures so far. Only recently with the Panasonic GH1 can one get a better picture for same weight as my Sony R1. Obviously heavier cameras can get mountain pictures today, but for mountain/landscape photography you can't beat the Sony R1 for weight/image sharpenss.

Sorry, but I'll have to disagree with about everything the previous poster said.
I can only speak for Nikon (own a D90) but the cleaning system works fine and doesn't take up any time at start-up. It lasts less than a fraction of a second, and I can't tell the difference with when it's off. I turn the lever on when I pick the camera up, and by the time it's level with my eye, it's on and ready to take pictures, dust system or not, so the claim that it is going to make you miss pictures is simply BS.
Now, for efficiency, I have taken about 13000 shots in the 8 months that I have the camera, been to deserts, moraines and beaches, and have yet to see one dust spot in any of my images. In comparison, on my old D50, I usually need to spend 10 minutes to clean the dozens of accumulated spots on my desert pictures...

As for the last comment, sure, DSLR weigh more, but you simply can't match the image quality and versatility, and the ergonomics (at least on Nikons) are such that you will get the shot that you want, even high up, in an awkward position, with big gloves on. There is no question for me that a DSLR is the right camera to take up a mountain.

Diego, Sunpak makes a good flash and they do have them dedicated to Minolta Maxxum,look at the MZ-440 AF TTL. Seems a good compromise for most needs. If you went with Metz, you might have to by a dedicated foot (hot shoe) to make it work. Hope it helps.

Auto Cleaning takes battery power, thus why I made my comment. Most don't care about maximum battery length since very few goes out for more than a long weekend. But, those who do... You want the option to turn the autoclean function OFF. Mountain climbing you don't need FAST startup time, nothing moves quickly. Thus, only wild life and people photographers will want the super quick turn on speed. Thus, why I made my claim about missing said moose or missing that smile on your kid. Wildlife/people photographers will have their camera around their necks. Dpreview etc show the different time between auto clean on off, check it out. The cleaning function has been around on ALL manufacturers for years and has been adequate on all makes and models for the last 2 years. Cameras older than this, old Nikons/canons, had crummy sensor cleaning.

You aren't buying a camera to ONLY take into the mountains. Yes, I have taken 5x7 view cameras and 4x5 cameras into the mountains, but weight does matter. Try changing 5x7 film in the mountains... What Fun!

On steep terrain, if it doesn't have an articulated screen, then the shots are awkward. There are only a very few DSLR's that have an articulated screen. NONE of the top DSLR's have this function. A couple mid range DSLR's that do are the new Panasonic GH1, Sony A 350, Olympus E330, Nikon D5000 and a few others, but can't remember which ones at the moment.

Amost every "mountain picture" is shot at ISO 100 and almost every camera will have excellent sharpenss if you put good glass in front of it. Only pocket cams will have crummy pictures. Almost ALL pictures taken in the mountains are at ISO 100, due to altitude and TONS of SUN all day long. In fact usually you need a Neutral density filter to cut the light. Especially on snow. More often than a ND filter will be the need for a polarizer to cut glare/clouds/haze. In otherwords if you put your money into EXCELLENT lenses, then it doesn't matter what camera you are using, they are all the same at base iso. Ergonomics are obviously relevant here and everyone has a different opinion...

Thus, why I keep using a Sony R1, It has excellent glass on it and excellent sharpenss at base iso. You can't beat its quality for its weight. Until recently with the 24Megapixel cameras. The Sony r1 sucks at all other ISO's and situations. No, it does not turn on quickly, or focus quickly, but is excellent as a landscape camera, AKA mountain photography due to its excellent lense, and articulating screen.

Brian
Do you want a landscape camera or an all around camera?

nattfodd wrote:Sorry, but I'll have to disagree with about everything the previous poster said.I can only speak for Nikon (own a D90) but the cleaning system works fine and doesn't take up any time at start-up. It lasts less than a fraction of a second, and I can't tell the difference with when it's off. I turn the lever on when I pick the camera up, and by the time it's level with my eye, it's on and ready to take pictures, dust system or not, so the claim that it is going to make you miss pictures is simply BS.Now, for efficiency, I have taken about 13000 shots in the 8 months that I have the camera, been to deserts, moraines and beaches, and have yet to see one dust spot in any of my images. In comparison, on my old D50, I usually need to spend 10 minutes to clean the dozens of accumulated spots on my desert pictures...

As for the last comment, sure, DSLR weigh more, but you simply can't match the image quality and versatility, and the ergonomics (at least on Nikons) are such that you will get the shot that you want, even high up, in an awkward position, with big gloves on. There is no question for me that a DSLR is the right camera to take up a mountain.

Wastral wrote:Auto Cleaning takes battery power, thus why I made my comment. Most don't care about maximum battery length since very few goes out for more than a long weekend. But, those who do... You want the option to turn the autoclean function OFF. Mountain climbing you don't need FAST startup time, nothing moves quickly. Thus, only wild life and people photographers will want the super quick turn on speed. Thus, why I made my claim about missing said moose or missing that smile on your kid. Wildlife/people photographers will have their camera around their necks. Dpreview etc show the different time between auto clean on off, check it out. The cleaning function has been around on ALL manufacturers for years and has been adequate on all makes and models for the last 2 years. Cameras older than this, old Nikons/canons, had crummy sensor cleaning.

You aren't buying a camera to ONLY take into the mountains. Yes, I have taken 5x7 view cameras and 4x5 cameras into the mountains, but weight does matter. Try changing 5x7 film in the mountains... What Fun!

On steep terrain, if it doesn't have an articulated screen, then the shots are awkward. There are only a very few DSLR's that have an articulated screen. NONE of the top DSLR's have this function. A couple mid range DSLR's that do are the new Panasonic GH1, Sony A 350, Olympus E330, Nikon D5000 and a few others, but can't remember which ones at the moment.

Amost every "mountain picture" is shot at ISO 100 and almost every camera will have excellent sharpenss if you put good glass in front of it. Only pocket cams will have crummy pictures. Almost ALL pictures taken in the mountains are at ISO 100, due to altitude and TONS of SUN all day long. In fact usually you need a Neutral density filter to cut the light. Especially on snow. More often than a ND filter will be the need for a polarizer to cut glare/clouds/haze. In otherwords if you put your money into EXCELLENT lenses, then it doesn't matter what camera you are using, they are all the same at base iso. Ergonomics are obviously relevant here and everyone has a different opinion...

Thus, why I keep using a Sony R1, It has excellent glass on it and excellent sharpenss at base iso. You can't beat its quality for its weight. Until recently with the 24Megapixel cameras. The Sony r1 sucks at all other ISO's and situations. No, it does not turn on quickly, or focus quickly, but is excellent as a landscape camera, AKA mountain photography due to its excellent lense, and articulating screen.

BrianDo you want a landscape camera or an all around camera?

nattfodd wrote:Sorry, but I'll have to disagree with about everything the previous poster said.I can only speak for Nikon (own a D90) but the cleaning system works fine and doesn't take up any time at start-up. It lasts less than a fraction of a second, and I can't tell the difference with when it's off. I turn the lever on when I pick the camera up, and by the time it's level with my eye, it's on and ready to take pictures, dust system or not, so the claim that it is going to make you miss pictures is simply BS.Now, for efficiency, I have taken about 13000 shots in the 8 months that I have the camera, been to deserts, moraines and beaches, and have yet to see one dust spot in any of my images. In comparison, on my old D50, I usually need to spend 10 minutes to clean the dozens of accumulated spots on my desert pictures.

As for the last comment, sure, DSLR weigh more, but you simply can't match the image quality and versatility, and the ergonomics (at least on Nikons) are such that you will get the shot that you want, even high up, in an awkward position, with big gloves on. There is no question for me that a DSLR is the right camera to take up a mountain.

easy guys. I think different opinions are allowed.

I for one take many photos not using ISO 100 as I find mountain shots during the day too contrasty. Much nicer light at dawn and dusk and thus personally I have to play around with my iso's to get a decent shutter speed.

I kind of disagree about auto cleaning as well. Anyone spending more than a weekend in the mountains, generally has spare batteries and charging equipment. Auto-dus removal is a no brainer

and to top it of, I have experimented with graduated ND filters, a royal pain in the butt, its a filter much simpler to add post procesing. Polarized filters are invaluable but can be over-used.

I also think articulating screens would be nice sometimes, but much prefer the certainty of a viewfinder. 99% (ok, im making that up but u know what I mean ) of all great mountain photography has been taken without the aid of an articulating screen.

Yes, different cameras for different occasions. Pocket cams for climbing roped up or figure out an easy access route for a larger camera. Accessing a pack top pocket on a cliff without having tons of junk fall down the cliff is very hard... Lost a Down Jacket doing just this stunt trying to get my big camera out.... ooops

Really, the issue comes down to how much money are you willing to spend and how much weight are you willing to carry for your pictures.

Yes, Sunset/sunrise are the best for colors. Small pocket cameras or the "super-zoom" cameras will require a higher ISO, but your larger sensor cameras will not.

I carried a pocket camera and it would typically shoot at ISO 400 if I didn't manually set it to 100 and the picures looked the part... BAD. Then I upgraded to a larger sensor with a Large aperture lense and VIOLA, TONS of light and the ability to shoot without a tripod for most sunrise/sunset shots hand held at 1/80th of a second. Yes, I still quite often carry a tripod, but I do not carry a tripod on multi week trips. My 10 day trip into the pickets in the North Cascades I did, but when I went to Waddington for 3 weeks, I did not.

One might also say that if I forked over a lot of money I could buy a Nikon d700 with $2000 in lenses for a total of over $4000 so I wouldn't have to carry my tripod due to its increadible noise free sensor at high iso, basically noise free at ISO 3200, but completely true at ISO 1600 for this camera.

It all comes down to how much money are you willing to spend. And also to mountain climbers how much WEIGHT are you willing to carry for your pictures.

A typical DSLR BODY ONLY weighs in at 2lbs. Add in a 1/2 to 1lb for a lense with some zoom capability along with spare batteries,CF cards, polarizers, ND filters when at high altitude, and it adds up in a hurry.

Personally, I print VERY LARGE. Have Multiple 2x4 foot pictures or larger at home. All of them are stitched images. When stitching one can get away with "lower class gear." I find that most mountain pictures require the images to be stitched. I suppose if you took a Maimya P65 back producing 65Mpixel images, one would not have to do that. Sorry, I don't have $50,000 for a camera and a prime lense. Neither does anyone else judging by how many are selling...

Hey, I have taken 5x7, 4x5 30lb cameras into the mountains... who am I to so no to?